Rotary cutting tools are used in a wide range of manufacturing applications to machine a wide variety of materials.
One of the existing problems with rotary cutting tools with inserted cutters has been the ability to maximize the number of inserted cutters in the periphery or face of the rotary cutting tools. The prior art has used a variety of mechanical locking mechanisms to attach the inserted cutter to the rotary cutting tool body. These mechanical attachment mechanisms are often located in the plane of the rotation of the inserted cutter. The inserted cutter attachment mechanism thus reduces the amount of cutter body available for inserted cutters limiting the number of inserted cutters that may be attached. One such mechanism is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,275,853 to Kruez, et al. Another is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,725,416 to Russell.
Another problem with rotary cutting tools with inserted cutters is associated with the brazing of inserted cutters to the face or periphery of the cutting tool body. When inserted cutters are brazed to the cutting tool body, the precise geometry of the cutting surface must be machined after brazing attachment, increasing cost of manufacture. Also resharpening or replacing brazed inserted cutters in the periphery or face of the rotary cutting tool increases the costs of manufacture of the cutting tool. Additionally, complex shapes and geometries are difficult or impossible to machine in the brazed inserted cutter after attachment to the cutter body.